Dean at Pepperdine's school of law is named president of Baylor University

Kenneth Starr talks with reporters Monday in Waco Texas. Tthe former independent counsel whose work led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, was named president of Baylor University. Starr, 63, is the dean of Pepperdine Universityís School of Law in Malibu, Calif., and will become Baylorís 14th president. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte)

Kenneth Starr, who represented supporters of Proposition 8 in a court challenge, will start June 1.

Rod Aydelotte /Waco Tribune Herald

Ken Starr, dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law, has been named president of Baylor University, a private Baptist school in Waco, Texas.

Starr, who came to national attention when he investigated former President Bill Clinton's real estate dealings and personal affairs, will start his new job June 1. He was at Baylor on Monday, after being unanimously elected Friday by its Board of Regents.

Baylor has an enrollment of 14,600 and, like Pepperdine, is known as a Christian university. Baylor had been looking for a new president since former president John Lilley was forced out in 2008.

Starr brings to Baylor experience as a university dean, a commitment to Christian ideals and a history of public service, R. Dary Stone, chairman of the regents, said in a statement.

The chair of the presidential search advisory committee also mentioned Starr's faith.

"Judge Ken Starr brings to this task an uncommon understanding of Baylor's unique and distinct mission as a national Christian university with historic Baptist ties," Kenneth L. Hall said in a statement. "He represents the very best of what it means to be an active churchman who ... puts his belief into action."

Starr, 63, has been dean of Pepperdine's law school since 2004. He had been offered the Pepperdine job once before, in 1997, but declined because he was still involved in the Whitewater investigation of the Clintons' real estate dealings. That investigation resulted in the Starr Report, which also detailed aspects of Clinton's personal life, including the Monica Lewinsky affair. The report led to Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1998. Clinton was later acquitted in the Senate.

Starr also represented supporters of Proposition 8 in a court challenge last year.

At the Malibu private university, Starr strengthened the law school's reputation, bringing it more national attention, said Tim Perrin, vice dean and professor of law.

In 2008, the law school was admitted to the Order of the Coif, which includes most of the nation's top-ranked law schools.

Starr also brought in well-known speakers, including five members of the Supreme Court in the past three years. In addition, he was a successful fundraiser, Perrin said.

"We were always a good law school, but not as well known as we would like to be," he said. "Dean Starr has increased our prominence and raised our profile."

The law school will start a national search for a successor soon, Perrin said.

Starr has been a partner in a private law practice, served as solicitor general and was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

He earned his bachelor's degree at George Washington University, his master's degree at Brown University and his law degree from Duke University School of Law.

Starr is the second person hired to lead Baylor in the past five years. Lilley was fired less than three years after he was hired. Regents said he failed to unite students, faculty and alumni, but they declined to elaborate.

A few months before Lilley was hired in 2005, Robert Sloan stepped down as Baylor's president and became the school's chancellor in a deal worked out with regents. Sloan, who had been president since 1995, had been blamed for rising tuition costs and rifts among professors who had been calling for his ouster.